Q.U.B.E. Director's Cut (Hands-On) (Wii U) Preview

Quick Understanding of Block Extrusion, or Q.U.B.E., is from Toxic Games, a group of former classmates and is a title that has quickly become much loved throughout the gaming community thanks to its creative levels and brain-teasing puzzles. Now Wii U owners are not only being treated to this award winning game, but a Director's Cut edition on eShop, with new features included.

Not knowing much about Q.U.B.E. before going into it (surprisingly, and disappointingly), the recent Eurogamer Expo demo version was the first time seeing it in action, albeit with a member of the public struggling to get to grips with the quirky puzzle title at first. After putting the poor woman under even more pressure by standing by her side watching the trial-and-error processes involved cause her grief, Cubed3 eventually got handed the controls ready to delve in where she had left off. Therefore, rather than starting afresh, it was straight into the thick of things, without a clue about where to go or what to do. However, never one to back down from a challenge, the controls were grasped firmly and the action commenced.

Taking place in a first-person perspective, only a pair of gloved hands could be seen on the screen, with one able to pull blocks outwards and the other repelling them. It quickly became apparent that the various coloured blocks around the sparse locations all had varying purposes. Blue ones could be pushed into recesses and they worked as springboards upon walking over them; red cubes could be extended up to three times, depending on the circumstances; and yellows were found in clusters of three, with the first one drawn out being the longest, and each subsequent one protruding slightly less than the other to form steps.

Setting up patterns of springs, figuring out the correct pattern of opening out yellows and drawing out reds far enough, sometimes in tandem with yellows - everything may have looked bland visually and too simplistic at first due to the lack of instructions, but there was an actual intriguing complexity to proceedings that draws the more inquisitive of gamers deeper. The first-person controls worked extremely well, as did the jumping mechanic, yet there were issues with the sensitivity of the on-screen cursor used to highlight blocks. Sadly it seemed rather twitchy, and it can only be hoped that a sensitivity setting will be included in the final version because trying to get the cursor exactly over the desired block could sometimes be too frustrating, especially if having just messed up a puzzle and needing to start from scratch.

That minor point aside, what was on offer here was thoroughly gripping for those with a penchant for taxing-but-rewarding puzzles. Q.U.B.E. Director's Cut is already shaping up to be one of the highlights of the already strong Wii U eShop line-up, and Toxic Games undoubtedly has another hit on its hands.

Final Thoughts

What at first looked like an extremely obtuse experience quickly developed into something highly engrossing, leaving the player wanting more. Q.U.B.E. on Wii U eShop is looking to be one of those 'love it or hate it' experiences, but Cubed3 is certainly in the former camp already, eager to delve deeper into the cleverly crafted title. Those liking their puzzle games to be more open-ended, allowing the mind to wander and solutions to come from natural exploration rather than hand-holding, should definitely watch this one very closely.